Old Photograph Thatched Cottages Island Of Iona Scotland

Old photograph of tourists outside thatched cottages on the Island of Iona, Scotland. In the early history Iona lay within the Gaelic kingdom of Dál Riata, in the region controlled by the Cenél Loairn, ie. Lorn, as it was then. The island was the site of a highly important monastery during the Early Middle Ages. According to tradition the monastery was founded in 563 by the monk Saint Columba, also known as Colm Cille, who had been exiled from his native Ireland as a result of his involvement in the Battle of Cul Dreimhne. Columba and twelve companions went into exile on Iona and founded a monastery there. The monastery was hugely successful, and played a crucial role in the conversion to Christianity of the Picts in Scotland in the late 6th century and of the Anglo Saxon kingdom of Northumbria, England, in 635. Many satellite institutions were founded, and Iona became the centre of one of the most important monastic Abbey systems in Great Britain and Ireland.



All photographs are copyright of Sandy Stevenson, Tour Scotland, and may not be used without permission.

View the most recent Tour Scotland photographs.